ATLANTA - National Guard NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team are now sixth among NASCAR's Sprint Cup leaders after he drove the No. 88 car to a third-place finish in the Kobalt Tools 500 March 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He also drove the No. 5 Guard Car to a ninth-place finish March 8 in the Nationwide Series race to claim the third sport in those standings.
IN THE BEGINNING:
For the Sprint Cup, the No. 88 car was stout all weekend long, qualifying second and hovering in the top-10 practice speeds. When the green flag dropped, Earnhardt took the lead from teammate and pole-sitter Jeff Gordon. By lap 9, Earnhardt had a four-and-a-half second lead over the rest of the field. The No. 88 Chevy led the field until the first caution flag flew on Lap 38 for debris. The team pitted for four tires, and Earnhardt reclaimed the lead in the battle off pit road.
By lap 100, the handling of the car wasn't getting any better, and Earnhardt had his hands full. He said he was so loose he was saving the car on each corner from spinning out. By Lap 165, Earnhardt had dropped to eighth position.
Snow cancelled the Nationwide Series qualifying session Saturday morning, so Earnhardt started that race ninth on owner points from late last season. When the first caution came out on lap 10, Earnhardt reported to his National Guard team that the No. 5 Chevrolet was running well. He was in the seventh position when the race resumed on lap 15. The No. 5 National Guard/48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Chevrolet remained neutral for the next 10 laps, but became slightly tight in the center during the run. Earnhardt had improved to sixth by lap 28.
LIFE IN THE PITS:
With the help of his crew chief's adjustments and the power of the Sprint Cup No. 88 pit crew's 12-second stops, Earnhardt crept back up the scoring tower and into the top four in the closing laps.
A day prior, under the Nationwide Series race's second caution and while he was running third, Earnhardt came in on lap 30 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help the No. 5 National Guard Chevrolet turn better in the middle and alleviate the car's tight handling conditions. At the restart on lap 32, Earnhardt had dropped to sixth.
The National Guard team's second pit stop happened on lap 88. The car still was tight, so Earnhardt, running sixth at the time, stopped under a green flag for four tires and fuel in addition to air pressure and wedge adjustments. Earnhardt rejoined the field in 21st position.
The previous wedge adjustment proved to be ineffective, so on lap 103 and under the fourth caution, crew chief Lance McGrew called Earnhardt in to take out the wedge. The No. 5 Chevrolet also took fuel, four tires and an air pressure adjustment. Earnhardt, who entered the pits 13th, improved to 12th on the restart at lap 106.
An accident brought out another caution, and on lap 143, Earnhardt drove the No. 5 Chevrolet into the team's pit stall for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Earnhardt was up to fifth on the lap 145 restart.
As the race progressed, Earnhardt reported to his National Guard team that the No. 5 Chevrolet was enduring loose handling conditions, and this made driving in the corners a challenge. On lap 172 and under a caution, Earnhardt came in for four tires and an air pressure adjustment. At the restart on lap 175, Earnhardt was eighth.
HOW IT ENDED:
In the remaining laps of the Sprint Cup race, Earnhardt passed Greg Biffle to take the third position with two laps to go in the event. All in all, Earnhardt led 62 laps and finished third, which boosted him four more positions in the standings. Now four races into the season, Earnhardt sits sixth in the driver standings.
"We started off awesome," Earnhardt said after the race. "The car was real fast. The tires, you know, have spring rates. We went softer and softer as the day went. That was the wrong thing to do. We had to keep adjusting the car to tighten it up. The thing was just out of control after a few laps. I wasn't as bad as most of them, I reckon. That was interesting today to be out there. I do say that I'm glad that's over with."
On lap 188 of Saturday's Nationwide Series race, Earnhardt sustained moderate damage on the No. 5 car's front fender when the No. 24 car wrecked in front of him on the backstretch. This incident brought out the red flag, which meant Earnhardt's National Guard team couldn't inspect or repair it.
When the race restarted on lap 193, Earnhardt stopped to have the damage fixed. Earnhardt rejoined the field 15th, which is where he remained until the checker flag waved on lap 198.